The Trump administration will not mark World AIDS Day (which is Dec. 1) this year for the first time in decades, sparking local Columbus advocates to call for community support.
Densil Porteous, the executive director of Stonewall Columbus, calls the White House's decision to end recognition of World AIDS Day "disheartening." For him, the day is personal since his mother died from complications from the disease. He is also a gay man who grew up in the 1980s at a time when the LGBTQ+ community was disproportionately impacted by the HIV global pandemic.
Porteous is critical of the federal government's decision, but pointed out the country shouldn't rely on the government to do so in the first place. He said community support is just as important.
"If it is about community, if it's about organizations like Stonewall or Equitas Health or the Human Rights Campaign uplifting this day and getting that message out. I think that's incredibly equally as important," Porteous said.
Porteous said during this time, he reflects on his mother and other loved ones he's lost. He expects many more people will do the same. He said he channels that energy into writing and advocating to try and reduce the stigma around HIV/AIDS.
Communities around the country rallied around the LGBTQ+ community and many straight and cisgender victims of HIV/AIDS. That support resulted in the creation of the AIDS Memorial quilt, which is traditionally displayed in cities like Washington D.C. and San Francisco to remember those who have died from the disease.
Porteous called it "laughable" that the U.S. won't recognize the day when many other countries do so. He pointed out that President Joe Biden wanted to end HIV/AIDS by 2030.
"To know that in the last several months alone this current administration has stripped away resources that will disallow anyone from ending the epidemic by 2030, so it seems contrary to what again the administration and the government has said," Porteous said.
